We had to get out of Cuzco before we partied ourselves to death, Soooo…. on to The Sacred Valley. Spectacular country, huh? Although Peru is a relatively inexpensive place to travel in, getting to the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu is not inexpensive! Milton of Hostel Milton in Cuzco did a great job helping us setup the Sacred Valley visit and the Machu Picchu trip.
First stop was a tourist trap kind of place. The tour we took wasn’t the kind of traveling we enjoy. It was basically one tourist trap after another. The tour was actually an inexpensive way to get us to Ollentaytambu which is where we planned to catch the train to Aguas Calientes. Aguas Calientes is the final stop before Machu Picchu.
Daily life here is pretty much the same as it was hundreds of years ago.
Couldn’t decide if we liked the color or black and white version better, so you guys decide. Let us know by leaving a comment.
Pisac Ruins, Sacred Valley. For more information on The Sacred Valley and Pisac checkout: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_valley
More Pisac. The Incas sure were active, although short lived.
Pisac closeup.
Even more Pisac.
And after a long day, we finally arrive in the town of Ollantaytambo. Although a lot of tourist go through here, the town remains as it was in “olden times”. As you will see the ruins are AMAZING!
This place is huge! We arrived very late in the day and the light was waning. It sure would have been nice to spend an extra day here. But, we had reservations in Aguas Caliente for the Machu Picchu trek.
Ollantaytambo area. Not sure why we liked this photo. Maybe because it kind of looks like something out of a Hobbit movie.
Ollantaytambo. The Incas sure know how to cut a stone, don’t you think?
We were greeted by this group of kids as we exited the Ollantaytambo Ruins. We haven’t mentioned that it’s cold here,due in part, to the over 9,000 feet of elevation.
We had some time to kill in Ollantaytambo before boarding the train to Aguas Calientes so we started looking for a place that served pisco sours. We didn’t actually stop here, but the name was cool.
Bebidas (drinks)! Comida (food)! Sounds good to us. Now, can we sneak by the crack security team?
The partying continues on the train ride to Aguas Calientes. The group behind Chris and Pam (aka Oasis) were from Poland we think. Chris and Pam are getting into the spirit. I guess the pisco sours were having an affect! The singing turned into a 3 way competition with another group forward and us. Bill led us into a stirring and heart wrenching rendition of row row row your boat and take me out to the ballgame. We’re sure that our new European friends were in awe of our singing abilities! It was great fun!!!!